February 27, 2012 · Comments Off on Distribution and preservation: The benefits of an ISSN

Modern society assigns everything a number. People are their Social Security Numbers; your money is a bank account number; the last book you read has an International Standard Book Number. It makes everything neat and tidy, easy to organize and track.

As of this past summer, Juiced.GS also has a number: 2162-7746. That is the International Standard Serial Number, or ISSN, that has been assigned to the publication by the Library of Congress. We requested an ISSN because of the many valuable benefits it brings to legitimate periodicals such as Juiced.GS. Over 80 countries coordinate and recognize ISSN assignments and can use ours for a variety of purposes:

A unique ISSN distinguishes Juiced.GS title from any other Apple II publication with which it might be confused.

Other editions of Juiced.GS, such as the Concentrate line, need their own ISSNs, allowing us to differentiate various formats of the same publication.

ISSNs help libraries and others who handle large numbers of serials to check in a title so it can get to users more quickly.

In the future, users may search and link to digital records, articles, and other files.

An ISSN also helps establish Juiced.GS's place in history. Although the movement to preserve a record of Apple II publications in a digital format is a valuable and necessary one, there is no substitute for the look and feel of print. Juiced.GS's ISSN is valid only for its print edition, which is the magazine's original format and the way it was intended to be read. To that end, Juiced.GS has been actively reaching out to a variety of relevant non-profit organizations charged with ensuring the archive of and access to computer history. Several such institutions have accepted donations of the complete collection of Juiced.GS, currently starting with volume 7, and have added the magazine to their collection. Due to the cost of producing these back issues, we are not currently seeking further recipients. For now, you can now find Juiced.GS throughout the country and the world at these establishments:

Several of the above institutes have further indexed Juiced.GS with the OCLC WorldCat, a global library catalog. Many of the 72,000 libraries that participate in WorldCat offer interlibrary loan — so if you need to access Juiced.GS, be it individual volumes, issues, or even articles, chances are you can request it be sent from one of the above libraries to your local branch.

The best way to ensure the longevity of data is to put it in as many hands as possible — and no matter the issues involved with digital distribution, from file compatibility to DRM, print will always remain viable and accessible. The above archives will help preserve Juiced.GS as a part of computer history for generations to come.